Schadenfreude Delicious!
Well now, you may wonder what in the world does schadenfreude mean?
Schadenfreude is a German word that means obtaining enjoyment from the troubles of others.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not one to want people to suffer. That is NOT what TrueBlackAnonymous is about. However, I admit that I do get a certain kind of enjoyment from watching people get their comeuppance.
And it seems to be happening.
Firstly, we have Dr. Boyce Watkins being sued for fraud by Maria Richard (nee Lloyd).
When Ms. Paris Milan discussed Boyce Watkins and the alleged fraud, and when she read the court documents, which are public, on her YouTube channel, some of the responses she received were highly inappropriate. I'm specifically talking about the comments that fall along the lines of supposedly "tearing a black man down."
So, are we, as a community, saying that calling out fraud, lies and bullshit is "not supporting a Black man"? Is this the standard of the community? What if the Black man is lying, defrauding, and bullshitting us? Does that not matter?
If you believe those who attacked Paris Milan, I guess so.
And, some of you have the nerve to wonder why some Black women choose to date and/or marry white men, or someone outside of the Black race?
Now, we have ZaZa Ali, who alleged attempted to take money from Black women who paid for a retreat in Sedona, Arizona. One woman paid for herself and her daughter to attend. One day before the retreat was to start, she got an email saying that the retreat was cancelled due to Ms. Ali being in a car accident.
However, the retreat was cancelled one month before the scheduled date because, it seems, Ms. Ali didn't book the hotel.
It has been said that the women who paid for the retreat, including the cost of non-refundable flights, and didn't get what they paid for, were attacked by some members of our community when they brought their situation to the attention of the public, including it seems, by Ms. Ali herself, when Ms. Ali didn't respond to their requests to get their money back.
In this case, however, the woman contacted the media, who reported the story on a CBS affiliate. Once the story was reported, refunds came to all those who paid for the retreat.*
So...
While I have no personal animus toward Boyce Watkins, ZaZa Ali, or even Umar Johnson, I do believe that what is right and fair is what is right and fair.
Speaking of what is right and what is fair, Umar Johnson has close to one million dollars in donations of Black people's money which was collected for a school that doesn't exist other than an idea. There are no documentation about this, except for tax liens, found on the IRS website. Umar Johnson has repeatedly refused to show any written record about the donation money or his plans for a school. There is no Board of Governors for this school. He has accepted over 5,000 resumes for jobs at this school for which there are no written job descriptions. Umar Johnson has repeatedly moved the goalpost for the opening in the school every year since he's been running this scam since 2013. We are close to 2019 and there isn't anything concrete about Umar Johnson's school that we can read.
Yet, we have people who insist on defending Umar Johnson.
Now...
What have we learned?
It seems that the only way we can get justice in our communities is by calling "the man" because we seem to not to want to give justice to each other.
And, I'm ready for Umar Johnson to get his comeuppance so I can have another dose of schadenfreude delicious!
*NOTE--TrueBlackAnonymous isn't clear that all of the women who paid for ZaZa Ali's retreat have had their money returned.
Trueblackanonymous You Tube Channel
@BLKAnonymous
Schadenfreude is a German word that means obtaining enjoyment from the troubles of others.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not one to want people to suffer. That is NOT what TrueBlackAnonymous is about. However, I admit that I do get a certain kind of enjoyment from watching people get their comeuppance.
And it seems to be happening.
Firstly, we have Dr. Boyce Watkins being sued for fraud by Maria Richard (nee Lloyd).
When Ms. Paris Milan discussed Boyce Watkins and the alleged fraud, and when she read the court documents, which are public, on her YouTube channel, some of the responses she received were highly inappropriate. I'm specifically talking about the comments that fall along the lines of supposedly "tearing a black man down."
So, are we, as a community, saying that calling out fraud, lies and bullshit is "not supporting a Black man"? Is this the standard of the community? What if the Black man is lying, defrauding, and bullshitting us? Does that not matter?
If you believe those who attacked Paris Milan, I guess so.
And, some of you have the nerve to wonder why some Black women choose to date and/or marry white men, or someone outside of the Black race?
Now, we have ZaZa Ali, who alleged attempted to take money from Black women who paid for a retreat in Sedona, Arizona. One woman paid for herself and her daughter to attend. One day before the retreat was to start, she got an email saying that the retreat was cancelled due to Ms. Ali being in a car accident.
However, the retreat was cancelled one month before the scheduled date because, it seems, Ms. Ali didn't book the hotel.
It has been said that the women who paid for the retreat, including the cost of non-refundable flights, and didn't get what they paid for, were attacked by some members of our community when they brought their situation to the attention of the public, including it seems, by Ms. Ali herself, when Ms. Ali didn't respond to their requests to get their money back.
 |
| From CBS46 Atlanta |
In this case, however, the woman contacted the media, who reported the story on a CBS affiliate. Once the story was reported, refunds came to all those who paid for the retreat.*
So...
While I have no personal animus toward Boyce Watkins, ZaZa Ali, or even Umar Johnson, I do believe that what is right and fair is what is right and fair.
Speaking of what is right and what is fair, Umar Johnson has close to one million dollars in donations of Black people's money which was collected for a school that doesn't exist other than an idea. There are no documentation about this, except for tax liens, found on the IRS website. Umar Johnson has repeatedly refused to show any written record about the donation money or his plans for a school. There is no Board of Governors for this school. He has accepted over 5,000 resumes for jobs at this school for which there are no written job descriptions. Umar Johnson has repeatedly moved the goalpost for the opening in the school every year since he's been running this scam since 2013. We are close to 2019 and there isn't anything concrete about Umar Johnson's school that we can read.
Yet, we have people who insist on defending Umar Johnson.
Now...
What have we learned?
It seems that the only way we can get justice in our communities is by calling "the man" because we seem to not to want to give justice to each other.
And, I'm ready for Umar Johnson to get his comeuppance so I can have another dose of schadenfreude delicious!
*NOTE--TrueBlackAnonymous isn't clear that all of the women who paid for ZaZa Ali's retreat have had their money returned.
Trueblackanonymous You Tube Channel
@BLKAnonymous
I still do not to see what Dr. Watkins did that would warrant the charge of fraud. Please keep in mind that it is incredibly easy to sue people in the U.S., the most litigious state in the history of the world. Being sued is not co-equal with guilt. It is simply a lawsuit, a claim being made for damages in a civil court, in other words. Those who work in the legal profession know that lawsuits are a dime a dozen.
ReplyDeleteWhile Dr. Watkins's Black Business School has angered many due to its association with Charles Wu, that in itself is not against the law. Nor is selling a product that does not achieve its desired result for every customer. Note the many frivolous suits filed during the recession against law schools and medical schools by graduates who were struggling to find work. Ms. Richard's suit is reminiscent of these claims.
I understand what a lawsuit is. Thanks. I'm applauding the fact that people are speaking up when they think, with evidence to suggest, that they are being defrauded. I don't know if they are right or not. That is for the courts to decide. What I'm saying is that it's not cool to just roll over when someone is or could be defrauding us because we're all black. That's NOT okay.
ReplyDeleteNobody is advocating rolling over when they believe themselves defrauded. What I'm telling you is that these lawsuits are part of a larger trend of specious lawsuits against educational institutions. There is precedent for how these lawsuits will be dealt with (they will be thrown out eventually). I have far more familiarity with higher education than you do, or than the people bringing these suits, attorneys included, do. It is incredibly easy to sue people in America. I could sue you tomorrow for emotional damages because your response to my email hurt my feelings. It doesn't mean anything. The track record of suits such as these in the courts is highly predictive of what will eventuate in Dr. Watkins's case.
ReplyDeleteBoyce Watkins is running an educational institution? How doyou know that you have more familiarity with educational instiutions than I do? While, yes, there is indeed such a thing as frivolous lawsuits, it remains to be seen if Maria Lloyd Rchard's such is one such frivolous lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteIf I need to explain to you that the Black Business School is, in the literal sense of the term, an educational institution, I don't think this is a dialogue worth engaging. If you can't be troubled to look to the ample recent legal precedent for the fate of Ms. Richard's lawsuit then I don't think there's any reason to dialogue with you.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I'm going to speculate based on my academic background versus the way you've engaged this issue that I have more experience in the various levels of higher education than you do.
I don't disagree at all with your points about the other two problematic people featured in your article, but there seems to me a quite easily perceptible difference-- his educational institution exists, etc.-- not only in degree but in kind with the case of Dr. Watkins.
We will see how things turn out. Meanwhile, if you think the discussion here is too low brow for you *chuckle* feel free to exit. Thanks.
DeleteBoyce is a fraud just like the rest of them.
ReplyDelete